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Helen Flores - The Philippine Star
April 12, 2025 | 12:00am
President Marcos welcomes the vibrant diplomatic relations between the Philippines and France during a courtesy call of Laurent Saint-Martin, the French minister for foreign trade, international financing and French nationals abroad.
MANILA, Philippines — President Marcos hailed the Philippine and French governments’ deepening relations, which he stressed are founded on shared values and adherence to international law.
Marcos made the remarks during the courtesy call of French Minister for Foreign Trade, International Financing and French Nationals Abroad Laurent Saint-Martin at Malacañang on Thursday.
“It is very encouraging for the Philippines to see that despite … the great distance between our two countries … the primacy of our shared values and our adherence to international law is something that is a common ground, that is very solid between France and the Philippines,” Marcos said.
The President also thanked Saint-Martin for his visit to the Philippines and France’s continued “material and moral support” for Filipinos.
For his part, Saint-Martin expressed his appreciation to the President and Trade Secretary Cristina Roque for the warm welcome extended to him and his delegation.
He also conveyed the warm greetings of French President Emmanuel Macron to the Philippine government and the Filipino people.
The Philippines and France have maintained formal diplomatic relations for 78 years since their establishment on June 26, 1947.
There are more than 31,000 Filipinos in France, a majority of whom are domestic workers, professionals, students, artists and spouses of French nationals.
The Philippines has various agreements with France, covering areas such as air services, cultural cooperation, defense cooperation, film collaboration and development cooperation.
Meanwhile, President Marcos discussed with New Zealand Prime Minister Christopher Luxon the two countries’ cooperation for a “free and fair” trade to maintain stability and prosperity in the Indo-Pacific region amid the unilateral imposition of so-called reciprocal tariffs by US President Donald Trump.
“We discussed how we can continue to work together to support free and fair trade,” Luxon said in a post on X on Thursday following a phone conversation with Marcos.
Marcos also shared his conversation with the New Zealand leader on developments in international trade and how the two nations could continue working together to attain stability and progress in the region.
Luxon, in his social media post, described the Philippines as an “important partner” of New Zealand in Southeast Asia.
Aside from Marcos, Luxon also had phone conversations with other world leaders, including Thai Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra and Fiji Prime Minister Sitiveni Rabuka.
On Thursday, Special Assistant to the President for Investment and Economic Affairs Frederick Go said he would lead the team to negotiate with the US trade representative regarding the 17 percent tariff imposed by the Trump administration on Philippine exports.
“They have positively responded so I will be scheduling a trip to the United States to meet with the USTR soon,” Go said, adding that the best possible outcome of the negotiation would be a free trade agreement with the US.
While the 17 percent duty is the second to the lowest, Go also acknowledged that it could still affect some industries.
